The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-12-26


mIghtiest force that has ever moved or nodded
civilized man. and. therefore, to have no knowl-
edge of that religion is to take interest in IT,
is to be ignorant enough.
But it is true that many know a good deal
abou: the life of Christ and are interested in
It, after fashion, who are far from being Chris
tians. While millions upon millions will keep
this day holy, and will worship with all their
hearts that dear Savior who was a little
child, there are Others it is to be feared, who
Will go to the house of God. not to adore the
Christ, but because they otherwise inter
ested. They will indeed visit it were, the
plains Of Bethlehem; they will listen with
rapture and delight to the song of the heavenly
host; they will follow the shepherds and the
Magi to the lonely mauger, they will look into
the face of the Holy Child, the Son of God they
may even bow the knee aud profess to worship
Him; and yet, il ie more than likely. that some
who will and hear ell this will derive from it
no spiritual profit They will return from all
these hallowed scenes to live a careless, prayer
less, goddess life. They have done before,
and they will. probably. do again. God
grant that it may not be with any of Us.
This day has been set apart by most Chris
And, concerning that advent. let US note these
two points:
First-The interest it excited
Second-,The influence it exerted.
We know that the advent of the Messiah was
matter of great ancieuts
Patr1archs and prophets took deep interest in
about it, as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
The faith of abraham overleaped eighteen
centuries and with undimmed eye, he saw
Chrlsts day and was glad. Isaiah, pearlng
through seven centuries. the Holy Child,
and ne sang of the future as if it were already
present. Micah. too, with vision clear and
as far sighted as Isaiah, could point out the
place of the SavOr's birth, and could sing of His
royal reign and His eternal sonship. Thus
multitudes in the oden time were deeply inter
ested in the coming of Christ. They longed for
that day. They anticipated it. They chung to
that Messiah whose atoning death they
often represented by type and symbol and
trusting Id His infinite merits, they fell asleep,
in the sure and certain hope of a glorious resur-
rection.
But the actual birth of Christ invested His
advent with additional interest. We have two
narratives of that birth and from these narratives
We can see how both heaven and earth
moved at His coming.
The angels were interested. They made the
kin ring with their songs of rejoicing. If
Gabriel was the leader, he not alone. for
suddenly, there was With him multitude OF
the heavenly host, praising God and saying:
Glory to God in the highest. and on earth
peace, good will toward men. And why may
we not believe that all the angels in heaven
well as those who brought to the earth the good
tidings OF great Joy, were filled with wonder
love and praise as they saw this new thing I'M
der the sun2
The shepherds were interested. And
wonder, when they received the angels mes
sage, and heard the angels song. They were
interested enough to say one to another: Let
us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this
thing which is come to pass, which the Lord
ested enough. also. to spread abroad the good
news about the angelic visit and the angelic
message, and how they found the babe living in
a manger, and thus they created in others
interest similar to their own. And their own in
terest in this wonderful child seems TO have in
creased, for they returned from Bethlehem
clarifying and praising God for all the things
that they had heard and
The Magi were interested. They saw Christ's
etar in the east. and so these old Persian astroi-
ogers left their homes. and. guided by that
yEn nHr ctn fhny- tray la1 I'd daN
after day, and week after week, until, at last,
the star stood over where the young child
No wonder they were interested; nor is it any
wonder that when they saw the young child
with Mary His mother, they fell down and
SHIPPED Him. They had found the king they
soueht-the king of the Jews. ave. and the king
dant treasures they presented unto Him their
kinRly gifts gold, and frankincense, and
myrrh.
Herod the King was interested But his inter-
est was unlike that of the angels, of the
Shepherds or of the MaSi Their interest
holy, but his was unhoy He was troubled and
Why should the birth of the child Jesus trouble
q king! 1t was time OF profound peace
throughout his kingdom and throughout Inc
world. The temple of Janus was closed.
No or battle sound
Was heard the world around:
The idle spear and shield were high up hung;
The hooked chariot stood
Unstained with hostile blood:
The trumpet spake not to the armed throng.
And yet Herod was troubled lie had heard
of the birth Of a child who was proclaimed TO be
his rival. 1t was this that troubled him, and
bearing this in mind, we need not wonder that
he was deeply interested. His interest was so
great that he wanted to the holy babe in
Ger. as he said, to worship him. He lied. He
did, indeed, want to find the child to wor-
ship him, but to kill him. And when the Magi
denied him. he vented his unholy wrath by mis-
massacre of the innocents.
The powers Of evil were interested in our
Lords advent. This is not distinctly stated in
the record though it is plainly implied. Her
ords conduct shows it. He was impelled hv the
evil one. We may be very sure that the prince
OF the power of the air and his legions were
neither idle nor uninterested spectators while
the angels sang, and the shepherds adored and
the Magi fell down and worshped the Lord.
Far from it. On the contrary, they must have
felt that Chrsts advent meant their overthrow.
If they knew that this Christ came to thwart
their evil plans. to break their wicked power. to
rescue from their fendish grasp m yriads of human
souls, and, finally. with His strong right arm to
drive them to their own place. and TO shut them
up forever in horrid hell-then we
good reason why the devil and his angels should
take deep interest in the birth Of the worlds
Redeemer.
time of our Saviors birth How has 1t been since
that day7 And how is it now2 In answer to
these questions may surely say that
event in our Lords life has excited. continues
to excite greater interest We cannot believe
that the angels have lost their interest in this
glorious fact. Rather do we believe that if it
De possible TO aQO TO tne1r JOY, their must De
greatly increased. they have heard their
anthem sung, year after year and age after age,
throughout the centuries, and this by hundreds
and thousands, and myriRds who loved Christ
with all their heart.
AS for those who occupy the humber walks OF
life, represented by the shepherds, we'll
those who occupy exalted stations, repre-
sented by the Magi, their interest in the
Savior's advent has in no wise abated. What took
place. figurativey, when Christ lay in the man
ger, is taking place actually now that He is ex-
oil cd hnr al nvy
around Lis cradle, and earths best representa-
tives went there and paid unto Him their g lad
homage. And the homage of the world which
He then received sin a figure" will surely be
paid unto Him in fact, for that word of God is
sure which says that all nations shall serve
Him. We may well believe, therefore, that
this world will continue to take an interest in
His advent until all nations. and kindreds. and
tribes, and tongues shall bow down before HIM
and worship at His feet.
The influence of the Saviours advent is CO.
extensive with the history of His church; and
that history is long, long story, which cannot
be told to-day can only hint at two or three